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The playground shooting happened shortly before 2 p.m. at Townville Elementary School at 105 State Road in Townville in Anderson County, Lt. Sheila Cole, with the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, said.

ACSO Capt. Garland Major said one of the boys was shot in the foot, the other in the leg and first-grade teacher Meghan Hollingsworth in the shoulder.

One of the injured boys, Jacob Hall, was airlifted to Greenville Memorial Hospital where he underwent surgery Wednesday afternoon.

As of 8 p.m. Jacob was still in critical condition according to a Greenville Health System spokesperson.

“We appreciate the community’s support, especially the Townville Rescue Squad, who treated Jacob onsite and brought him to the hospital,” Jacob’s parents, Rodger and Renae Hall, said. “We appreciate everyone’s thoughts and prayers and ask for privacy during this difficult time.”

Emergency officials said Jacob was critically injured, and if not for the intervention of first responders, the "outcome would have been very different."

The second boy and the teacher were taken by ambulance to AnMed. They were treated and released, Ross Norton with AnMed said.

A truck, believed to have been driven by the teen, crashed into a fence surrounding the playground and was left there.

Anderson County Deputy Chief Keith Smith said the shooting happened on the playground and the shooter never got inside the school.

Jamie Brock, 30-year veteran volunteer firefighter who responded to the school after the shooting, took down the suspect on the playground, Smith said.

Brock was not armed, officials said.

Sheriff John Skipper said Brock likely prevented more shots from being fired by confronting the shooter and taking him down.

"Mr. Brock is a big fellow," Skipper said.

The teen was armed with a handgun, ACSO Capt. Garland Major said. He said the shooting had no racial or terrorist undertones.

Major said the shooting had no racial or terrorist undertones.

Investigators said there is no known relationship between the suspected shooter and the victims at the school.

Armed officers were at the school about seven minutes after the call and the suspect was in custody in less than an hour, officials said.

Shooting suspect's father found dead

The Anderson County Coroner's Office is also investigating the death of the shooter's father, 47-year-old Jeffrey Dewitt Osborne at his home on Osborne Road in Townville. The location is a little more than 3 miles from school.

Shore said the teen called his grandparents on his cellphone at 1:44 p.m. The grandmother said he was crying and so upset she couldn't understand him, so she and her husband went to Osborne's home to see if there grandson was there. The grandson was not there, but they found their son's body.

At 1:45 p.m., a teacher called to report the shooting at the school.

Impact on the Townville community

Dr. Joanne Avery, Anderson County District 4 superintendent, said there are video cameras in the school, and though the school does not have a resource officer, the staff has had lots of active shooter training and that helped during and after the shooting.

Avery said school at Townville Elementary is canceled for rest of week and counseling services will be available.

“We are heartbroken about this senseless act of violence,” Avery said

She asked that everyone keep the community in prayer.

Gov. Nikki Haley released a statement saying: "As we work together with law enforcement to make sure they have the support they need to investigate what happened in Townville, Michael and I ask that everyone across South Carolina join us in praying for the entire Townville Elementary School family and those touched by today's tragedy."

Haley arrived in the Upstate Wednesday evening, but she did not make any public appearances.

Moments of panic for parents

After the shooting, students were evacuated and moved by bus to Oakdale Baptist Church at 6724 Highway 24 in Townville.

Jamie Meredith, a student’s mother, spoke to News 4’s Mandy Gaither just after she was reunited with her daughter.

"I just pray for those families. I pray for those kids,” she said. “I thank God it wasn't mine, but I feel so bad for them and I'm just going to pray that they're OK and I don’t know if they're my daughter's classmates or they're somebody I knew. I don't know. (I) just feel so bad.

“She said they went in the bathroom. I don't know how they knew to go in the bathroom, but I know her teacher was shaken up. I know all the kids were scared. There was a bunch of kids crying. She didn't talk for about five minutes when I got her.

“I'm just so scared. I don't even want her to go to school now."

Greenville County Schools Superintendent Burke Royster released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying: “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the students, teachers, administrators, and families of Townville Elementary School and Anderson School District 4.

"We have offered the assistance of members of our emergency response team and other personnel, who are currently providing needed support to this community.”